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A Chinese Drug Bust of ‘Breaking Bad’ Proportions

Paramilitary police carried away crystal meth during a raid in which they seized nearly three tons of the drug at Boshe village in Lufeng, Guangdong province.

Reuters

Somewhere, Walter White is looking down on China and smiling.

Police seized three tons of crystal meth Sunday in the southern province of Guangdong in a drug bust of proportions that would seem fit for “Breaking Bad,” a recent U.S. TV hit about a chemistry teacher who turns to cooking the drug after being diagnosed with lung cancer. The raid resulted in the arrest of 182 suspects from 18 drug production and trafficking rings. Authorities seized 23 tons of raw materials as well as an assortment of weapons that included guns, knives and a hand grenade, according to a statement from the province’s security bureau.

Police cars surrounded the area during the raid.

Reuters

The crackdown, centered in Boshe village, was no small feat. Thousands of security personnel from four cities, helicopters and even speedboats were involved in the bust. China Daily reported that two police officers were shot and one sustained a broken leg after being hit by a car driven by the drug traffickers. All three are recovering at a hospital in Guangzhou, it added.

The use of crystal meth has been on the rise throughout Asia in recent years, emerging as a major challenge for the region’s police forces. Since Guangdong authorities launched an initiative dubbed “Operation Thunder” last July to combat drug use and production in the area, they have detained more than 10,000 suspected drug traffickers and seized more than eight tons of drugs, according to state media Xinhua. By comparison, police in the U.S.’s Southwest, where the hit American crime drama is set, seized more than 11 tons of meth in 2012.

The latest raids were carried out at locations in and around Lufeng, a Chinese city that has been notorious for its role in China’s drug chain. Qiu Wei, an official at Guangdong’s security bureau, told Xinhua that Lufeng has provided one-third of China’s crystal meth over the past three years. More than one-fifth of the households in Lufeng are involved in or have a stake in drug production and trafficking, Mr. Qiu added.

A United Nations report on drug use in Asia published late last year noted that the use of methamphetamines, particularly among young people, is a rising problem in China. Meth—which includes both the crystal form and the pill form—is the second-most commonly used illegal drug in China after heroin, the report said. The report noted that the number of drug-related cases jumped 20% to more than 121,000 in 2012 from 2011. Some 40% of the cases were meth-related.

The police didn’t say how much the drugs were worth, or whether they were bound for domestic or overseas consumption. Calls for comment to the Guangdong public security department rang unanswered Friday.